SawStop files lawsuits against Bosch

SawStop LLC filed complaints at the U.S. International Trade Commission and the U.S. District Court in Oregon against Robert Bosch GmbH of Germany and its subsidiary Robert Bosch Tool Corporation to stop infringement of SawStop’s patented inventions.

Bosch recently introduced the Reaxx portable job-site table saw, featuring the company’s proprietary flesh-detecting Active Response Technology. SawStop says the saw incorporates numerous inventions it developed and patented. As part of the lawsuit, SawStop is asking the government to exclude Bosch’s infringing table saws from entry into the United States and to order Bosch to stop advertising and selling infringing products in the United States.

“SawStop has invested millions of dollars developing inventions to protect woodworkers from serious injury and those inventions have been awarded patents,” SawStop president Stephen Gass said in a statement. “Patents are the cornerstone of American innovation, protecting the work of inventors from unauthorized use. A foreign corporation like Bosch, who takes advantage of the American patent system by filing multiple patent applications every day, should respect the patents awarded to others instead of relying on its size and financial resources to disregard those patents.”
“We are proud of the difference our table saws have made in the lives of woodworkers. SawStop saws have already saved thousands of woodworkers from serious injury. And although Bosch is one of the world’s largest companies with billions of dollars in annual revenue, we will vigorously defend our patent rights.”

Bosch could not be reached for comment.